Polish order appeals for prayers as Catholic priests face draconian sentences in Belarus

(OSV News) -- A Polish religious order has requested prayers from Christians worldwide for one of its senior priests, Oblate Father Andrzej Juchniewicz, who was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment on unspecified political charges in Belarus.

"He's the second priest to receive a heavy sentence recently, in what's clearly meant as a warning to other clergy not to engage in any public activity," said Father Marcin Wrzos, spokesman for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

"All we can do now is seek good Belarusian lawyers -- people who'll step up to the challenge of defending him. Beyond that, what's most needed is prayer," he said.

The priest spoke with OSV News following the conviction of Father Juchniewicz, chairman of Major Superiors, Delegates and Representatives of Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life in the former Soviet republic.

His sentencing in Belarus follows that given to Father Henrykh Akalatovich, an elderly parish rector from Valozyn, who began an 11-year sentence in a strict-regime penal colony April 20.

Father Wrzos said he had known Father Juchniewicz since seminary studies and was "personally shocked" by his plight, adding that his order was helping appeal the April 30 sentence by the regional court in Vitebsk.

"As far as we're concerned, Father Juchniewicz is innocent -- we count on his complete exoneration," Father Wrzos told OSV News.

"This case will have a chilling effect on religious life in Belarus, fuelling an atmosphere of fear that Catholic priests and nuns can be arrested or lose their visas anytime via untruthful accusations," he said.

The jailing of Father Juchniewicz after a protracted trial was not publicly announced in Belarus, but communicated unofficially to members of his parish, Our Lady of Fatima at Shumilina, where he was first detained a year ago.

In a statement, the Oblate order said an initial charge of undefined "subversive activities," believed to involve posting Belarusian and Ukrainians flags on social media, had later been changed to "criminal offenses."

It added that the priest, who holds dual Belarusian and Polish citizenship, had "consistently denied all accusations" at his closed trial, held "without any media or public presence," and said Catholics in the northeastern Vitebsk Diocese had supported him, "emphasizing his many years of impeccable service."

Meanwhile, an unofficial Catholic website, Katolik.life, said the court schedule indicated Father Juchniewicz had been charged with "three criminal offenses related to sexual relations with minors," after the original "political accusations" were set aside.

The website added, however, that the Vitebsk Diocese had "never received any complaints" about Father Juchniewicz. It said the length of his trial suggested prosecutors had faced problems finding "enough real evidence" for the "dubious charges."

Bishop Oleg Butkevich had attended some trial sessions, Katolik.life reported, but had been unable to conduct his own investigation into the sexual charges against the priest, as required by canon law, while he remained in detention.

Father Akalatovich began his 11-year sentence after the supreme court rejected his appeal of his "high treason" sentence in December.

A human rights group operating in exile, Viasna, reported that Father Akalatovich, who was secretly ordained under communist rule and widely admired for helping revive Belarus' once-repressed Catholic Church, had suffered a heart attack and undergone gastric cancer surgery during 13 months' pre-trial detention.

Meanwhile, Katolik-life said the priest was thought to have been accused of "transmitting information" about a military unit stationed near his Valozyn church, and had been denied opportunities to pray or say Mass.

In April, the website carried a letter from Father Akalatovich, confirming that he had been accused of "espionage for Poland and the Vatican," but insisting none of the dozens of witnesses summoned against him had provided "incriminating testimony" to support the claim, which was "based on lies, threats and blackmail."

The priest emphasized that it is not he who is being judged, but "the entire Catholic Church in Belarus."

Catholics make up around a 10th of the 9.4 million inhabitants of Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko began a seventh term as president, after 31 years in power, after claiming victory in Jan. 26 elections with 86.8% of votes.

Dozens of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant clergy have faced arrest since August 2020, when Lukashenko's previous disputed reelection was followed by international sanctions, and the flight of half a million citizens abroad, to escape harsh repression.

In his OSV News interview, Father Wrzos said Father Juchniewicz's case was viewed as "highly sensitive" by Belarus's Catholic Church, none of whose official websites have even mentioned his April 30 sentence.

"Since we have no legal status and aren't family members, we can't visit or communicate with him in detention," said the spokesman for the Oblates, whose over 3,300 members evangelize among the poor and marginalized in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"He was always a smiling, creative and open-minded person, who loved pastoral work among people -- I've no idea how he'll cope physically and psychologically with his current terrible plight," said Father Wrzos.

Both Father Juchniewicz and Father Akalatovich have been recognized by human rights among 1,186 political prisoners in Belarus.